While I was an undergrad, my professor did an excellent job of this. He sent us a link to a website, along with the assignment, and told us to have it completed by the start of class. The website was supposed to be an information site about the Tree Octopus. We all handed them in and he immediately smiled and threw them in the trash. He said that the answers on paper would have been "correct" if he had not been asking for us to find valid information of the tree octopus. He then said that if we had paid attention to the small details we would have seen that it was a blog site, and not a credited publication. Had we simply turned in a blank worksheet we would have been given credit.
This was an interesting way, and valuable for me, to look at paying attention to the sources we use. While it may not hit close to home that valid sources are important for copyright, legal, and citation purposes, they definitely resonate with students on getting a good grade. Learning how to evaluate websites, just like any other texts, teach students how to evaluate for credibility, bias, and other important factors that play a role in how a text works.
I have not had that experience, but it would certainly open your eyes as to a source's credibility. Many teachers at the high school discourage the use of Wikipedia because it can be edited by anyone and the information is not always accurate. Website analysis is being taught to some extent, but not a great deal of emphasis is placed on the quality of the source.
With so much information on the internet, and a great deal of it is uploaded by individuals, a great deal of misinformation is available. Students need to be able to evaluate a website for dependability. Critically analyzing a website as a source of information relies on students' skills and judgment in determining if the source is credible and appropriate to use. This is difficult for some students, they believe everything they hear or read. They tend to accept internet sites as truth and at face value; learning to analyze the source is more difficult for some students than it is for others. Cognitive abilities affect judgment skills.
When I was in grad school I had to take a class about being able to validate and evaluate the reliability of tests. This process actually carries over to website evaluation in so far as checking the source(s) and any possible bias involved. I remember how popular Reading Renaissance (AR) was until the program was eventually analyzed and bias was discovered as well as it not being much of a research based program. A lot of schools dropped it and we're much more analytical about what they replaced it with.
This kind of evaluation can be difficult for students, at least at the middle school level. When I have my students do research projects, and they do throughout the year, I usually steer them towards trusted sites that I am familiar and/or comfortable with. I always proof read their work before anything is finalized. We have multiple discussions during the year about various types of media, especially on the Internet, and how just because it's printed/published does not mean it's true. We talk about how easy it can be to print false information and mislead people. This discussion also ties into math when they study misleading data and graphs!
Wikipedia is NOT a credible source for information. WEBMD does not make you a doctor. My student have the hardest times with these two things. They think everything they read on the internet is fact. They don’t realize that anybody can go edit any of the information on Wikipedia. We really have to spend quite a bit of time discussing why they cannot turn to the internet every time they need something.
Teaching website evaluation to students at the high school level really holds value. They have to write several research papers over their high school life and they need to know the difference between credible sources and not credible sources. Most teachers in this building will not even accept certain sources like Wikipedia. By having the students evaluate if a source is credible, they can make sure that the information is current. It also teaches them to double check information so they are not mislead.
In my experience I have never taught evaluation of websites however that was really pushed in my undergrad and graduate studies. I think that is crucial for students to understand that the internet is a world wide web so anyone can build a website and make it look credible. Just because it comes from the web does not make it the truth, anyone can state their opinion about a particular subject and post it to the web for all to read or listen to. I was also taught when researching to look at the ending of the website such as .edu or .gov ect. This helps to establish if it is credible information. I think in this day and age kids think the web is the go to for anything you want to know but they don't always understand when looking you have to be careful as to not get caught up in it is on the web it has to be the truth. Sadly everything on the web is not the truth. Even as an adult I tend to look things up on the web to find information as well but always careful as to what I am taking as truthful information.
I think this does help teach students to analyze what they read on the web before writing it in a paper or thinking it is the truth. I think that they have to be able to look at several different sources so then they can dig into if the information seems valid or not so valid. I think once they get the hang of it and exposure to sites such as wikipedia or WebMD then it becomes easier for them to see what websites have validity to their information and what websites may be opinions and not true information.
I can't remember this ever being addressed in my coursework either. We covered propaganda and research in about 5th grade social studies, and of course some of that generalized.
I think that today's students tend to believe so much of what is on the internet. They have always had the internet at their disposal and have never had to use an encyclopedia or other resources for information. I have never taught website credibility but I think it is important for students to know what sites are credible to obtain information from and what sites not to retrieve from. I think that a student must be able to tell the difference between credible information and information that is not credible to obtain the correct information or research on a topic or person. A students ability to see the difference will matter in the quality of their assignment.
Students have technology at their fingertips, some of them all the time. They see things posted on social media and tell others about it, like it’s fact. They don’t pay attention to the source, credible or not. When students are able to evaluate sites for correct and current information, they are more likely to think through the sources they use. The author pointed out that she uses it to teach students self-questioning and to critique new information. When students can critique new information and sources, they are able to transfer that skill to other areas.
Brandi Gibson I can think of the value in this by thinking about social media and Facebook. I really enjoy using Facebook to catch up with my friends, and post pictures of my kids- and to keep up with kids that I have taught throughout the years. I, myself, have been guilty of reposting an article that hasn't been verified through a "truth" website like Snopes. I can think of some of the damage these types of articles have done when I think about the last presidential election. When you post an article about a particular view- I think that it is important to check sources. A lot of the hatred and judgement about people and their political views were fueled by misleading or false articles- and these things divided our country- not unified it.
I hadn't really thought about this until reading the book. We always hear people say, "You read it on the internet so it MUST be true!" I think that younger generations especially struggle with this concept. They assume that just because they read it from a "news source" online it must be true without ever using their brain to think about the information they read or digging a little deeper to find the truth. It's important that we teach kids to dig further and check the credibility of their sources. Are we not having credibility issues with our government and news currently? The kids must learn to think about what it it they are reading/hearing and dig deeper to develop their own personal opinions.
I feel like the Internet is likely many people’s largest source of information, so it’s important for someone to be able to evaluate the accuracy of what they’re consuming and adding/assimilating to their own knowledge base, as well as potentially sharing with others. Almost anyone in the world can post something online, but just because they’re capable doesn’t mean they’re credible. Additionally, the Internet is frequently utilized by our students today in almost all facets of their lives. If they’re able to evaluate the accuracy and credibility of the information posted on a website, I feel like this will assist them to develop the skillset necessary to critically analyze other formats of information they’ll encounter as well.
I see the realization that not everything adults tell you is true as a part of developmental progression. Its something you need to be taught by a trusted adult. I can remember in 2nd or 3rd grade, having a discussion with my father and insisting that something I said was true because I saw it on T.V., and him telling me not only about commercials, but about what his father had said about the accuracy of the news released during World War I. My point being, this has been an issue since before internet search was widely available. To be good citizens, we need to be able to research across multiple sources, judge their credibility, and not let anyone, as promised by a T.V./radio personality "do your thinking for you".
I see teachers providing instruction on which sites can not be considered credible, but sometimes I think we overlook this overlying concept.
Teaching website evaluation is not a concept had I previously given much thought to, but a skill I think is vital for today's students. Accessing information in journals and encyclopedias is an outdated skill, as students and teachers rely primarily on the internet. Since there is so much false information on the world wide web, everyone needs to know how to locate accurate and truthful websites. I do think learning to critically analyze websites will help students use this skill in other areas of their studies.
This is a hugely important skill today, and one that many students lack. Being able to accurately evaluate a webpage is only going to get more important. There are now over a billion (and counting) websites on the internet. When students research a topic they can find alternative facts and differing opinions on just about every topic. It is important for them in school and in life to be able to discern what is true and what is not
I think that we all, kids and adults included, need to find ways of evaluating the information we are given, especially with concepts such as "fake news" and "alternative facts" floating around. The internet is increasingly the source we go to because it provides immediate access, can be tailored through a search engine to find the exact topic we are interested in, and can bring up thousands of hits in microseconds. I think, at first, people assume that everything they are reading is true. Most of us, after all, are honest people who would never distort facts and would take pride in the accuracy of our statements, but unfortunately, there are those who like to make up information. Perhaps they have an ax to grind; perhaps they got bored and needed something to do.
Technology has introduced new challenges to our society. Since it is in its infancy, we have to find ways to protect ourselves. We are learning on the fly and the learning curve is steep. From texting as we drive, to cyber bullying, to evaluating sources of data on the internet, we are having to make new rules and develop new skills as we go along. Not all is bad. For those who have the skill, teachers can cut and past a student's writing passage into Google and check for plagiarism.
Having a process to evaluate websites will be critical to our society. Several times, I have written about the need to use data in making informed decisions. Our decisions and the decisions of our students will only be informed if the data we are analyzing is correct and true. There are those, who for whatever reason, aren't interested in what is true. They are interested in what they want to be true. This smacks of anti intellectualism and is basically a form of laziness and, perhaps, dishonesty.
Teaching students to evaluate websites is an important skill in the technological age that we are living in. Most students look to the internet and google to find all of the information for their research projects. While there is great information out there...there is also information that is incorrect or wrong. When we teach students to evaluate the websites they encounter, it would allow them to find the real, valid information.
This skill would enable a student's ability to critically analyze information. They would be able to transfer that knowledge into other areas of their lives. I think that this can come easy for some students...and for others, it can be very difficult. Most of the students on my caseload, for example, would find this skills very difficult. For some, it might be next to impossible. It becomes part of my job to help them understand the importance and lead them through the process.
Teaching website evaluation is imperative in today's world. As we live in a blogger world, personal opinions and facts seem to become one and the same. Our students need to understand that, as Adele states, "Just 'cause I said it doesn't mean that I meant it, just 'cause you heard it."
Part of the struggle with finding good websites is that so many poor websites are willing to provide "information" about what we are looking for. Not to mention that oftentimes, we don't research topics as much as we try to find someone "credible" that is saying the same thing I am thinking. I have found that students often don't search for things on-line for knowledge acquisition as much as personal reenforcement. It is important that teachers review/teach the importance of true learning and what makes a source credible.
As students learn the basics in identifying credible sources, they will learn the valuable skill of discerning truth from untruth and more importantly, truth from semi-truth. They will learn to filter information through the grid of their current knowledge and apply learned tests to every source, whether it be friend, teacher, newspaper, magazine, Facebook, textbook, professor, etc. This is truly a lifelong skill.
What is the value of teaching website evaluation? It helps understand what information is valid and reliable and what is not. When I was in college we always had to check our sources and try to use peer reviewed journals when writing research papers. Many different sources on the internet are not reliable sources anymore. It is important to check if the source is providing correct information or not.
What does it have to do with a student’s ability to critically analyze information? Teaching website evaluation is a way for students to analyze whether or not information is reliable or not. It is important for student to understand that not everything they read is true.
While I was an undergrad, my professor did an excellent job of this. He sent us a link to a website, along with the assignment, and told us to have it completed by the start of class. The website was supposed to be an information site about the Tree Octopus. We all handed them in and he immediately smiled and threw them in the trash. He said that the answers on paper would have been "correct" if he had not been asking for us to find valid information of the tree octopus. He then said that if we had paid attention to the small details we would have seen that it was a blog site, and not a credited publication. Had we simply turned in a blank worksheet we would have been given credit.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting way, and valuable for me, to look at paying attention to the sources we use. While it may not hit close to home that valid sources are important for copyright, legal, and citation purposes, they definitely resonate with students on getting a good grade. Learning how to evaluate websites, just like any other texts, teach students how to evaluate for credibility, bias, and other important factors that play a role in how a text works.
I have not had that experience, but it would certainly open your eyes as to a source's credibility. Many teachers at the high school discourage the use of Wikipedia because it can be edited by anyone and the information is not always accurate. Website analysis is being taught to some extent, but not a great deal of emphasis is placed on the quality of the source.
DeleteWith so much information on the internet, and a great deal of it is uploaded by individuals, a great deal of misinformation is available. Students need to be able to evaluate a website for dependability. Critically analyzing a website as a source of information relies on students' skills and judgment in determining if the source is credible and appropriate to use.
ReplyDeleteThis is difficult for some students, they believe everything they hear or read. They tend to accept internet sites as truth and at face value; learning to analyze the source is more difficult for some students than it is for others. Cognitive abilities affect judgment skills.
When I was in grad school I had to take a class about being able to validate and evaluate the reliability of tests. This process actually carries over to website evaluation in so far as checking the source(s) and any possible bias involved. I remember how popular Reading Renaissance (AR) was until the program was eventually analyzed and bias was discovered as well as it not being much of a research based program. A lot of schools dropped it and we're much more analytical about what they replaced it with.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of evaluation can be difficult for students, at least at the middle school level. When I have my students do research projects, and they do throughout the year, I usually steer them towards trusted sites that I am familiar and/or comfortable with. I always proof read their work before anything is finalized. We have multiple discussions during the year about various types of media, especially on the Internet, and how just because it's printed/published does not mean it's true. We talk about how easy it can be to print false information and mislead people. This discussion also ties into math when they study misleading data and graphs!
Wikipedia is NOT a credible source for information. WEBMD does not make you a doctor. My student have the hardest times with these two things. They think everything they read on the internet is fact. They don’t realize that anybody can go edit any of the information on Wikipedia. We really have to spend quite a bit of time discussing why they cannot turn to the internet every time they need something.
ReplyDeleteTeaching website evaluation to students at the high school level really holds value. They have to write several research papers over their high school life and they need to know the difference between credible sources and not credible sources. Most teachers in this building will not even accept certain sources like Wikipedia. By having the students evaluate if a source is credible, they can make sure that the information is current. It also teaches them to double check information so they are not mislead.
In my experience I have never taught evaluation of websites however that was really pushed in my undergrad and graduate studies. I think that is crucial for students to understand that the internet is a world wide web so anyone can build a website and make it look credible. Just because it comes from the web does not make it the truth, anyone can state their opinion about a particular subject and post it to the web for all to read or listen to. I was also taught when researching to look at the ending of the website such as .edu or .gov ect. This helps to establish if it is credible information. I think in this day and age kids think the web is the go to for anything you want to know but they don't always understand when looking you have to be careful as to not get caught up in it is on the web it has to be the truth. Sadly everything on the web is not the truth. Even as an adult I tend to look things up on the web to find information as well but always careful as to what I am taking as truthful information.
ReplyDeleteI think this does help teach students to analyze what they read on the web before writing it in a paper or thinking it is the truth. I think that they have to be able to look at several different sources so then they can dig into if the information seems valid or not so valid. I think once they get the hang of it and exposure to sites such as wikipedia or WebMD then it becomes easier for them to see what websites have validity to their information and what websites may be opinions and not true information.
I can't remember this ever being addressed in my coursework either. We covered propaganda and research in about 5th grade social studies, and of course some of that generalized.
DeleteI think that today's students tend to believe so much of what is on the internet. They have always had the internet at their disposal and have never had to use an encyclopedia or other resources for information. I have never taught website credibility but I think it is important for students to know what sites are credible to obtain information from and what sites not to retrieve from. I think that a student must be able to tell the difference between credible information and information that is not credible to obtain the correct information or research on a topic or person. A students ability to see the difference will matter in the quality of their assignment.
ReplyDeleteStudents have technology at their fingertips, some of them all the time. They see things posted on social media and tell others about it, like it’s fact. They don’t pay attention to the source, credible or not.
ReplyDeleteWhen students are able to evaluate sites for correct and current information, they are more likely to think through the sources they use. The author pointed out that she uses it to teach students self-questioning and to critique new information. When students can critique new information and sources, they are able to transfer that skill to other areas.
Brandi Gibson
ReplyDeleteI can think of the value in this by thinking about social media and Facebook. I really enjoy using Facebook to catch up with my friends, and post pictures of my kids- and to keep up with kids that I have taught throughout the years. I, myself, have been guilty of reposting an article that hasn't been verified through a "truth" website like Snopes. I can think of some of the damage these types of articles have done when I think about the last presidential election. When you post an article about a particular view- I think that it is important to check sources. A lot of the hatred and judgement about people and their political views were fueled by
misleading or false articles- and these things divided our country- not unified it.
I hadn't really thought about this until reading the book. We always hear people say, "You read it on the internet so it MUST be true!" I think that younger generations especially struggle with this concept. They assume that just because they read it from a "news source" online it must be true without ever using their brain to think about the information they read or digging a little deeper to find the truth. It's important that we teach kids to dig further and check the credibility of their sources. Are we not having credibility issues with our government and news currently? The kids must learn to think about what it it they are reading/hearing and dig deeper to develop their own personal opinions.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the Internet is likely many people’s largest source of information, so it’s important for someone to be able to evaluate the accuracy of what they’re consuming and adding/assimilating to their own knowledge base, as well as potentially sharing with others. Almost anyone in the world can post something online, but just because they’re capable doesn’t mean they’re credible. Additionally, the Internet is frequently utilized by our students today in almost all facets of their lives. If they’re able to evaluate the accuracy and credibility of the information posted on a website, I feel like this will assist them to develop the skillset necessary to critically analyze other formats of information they’ll encounter as well.
ReplyDeleteI see the realization that not everything adults tell you is true as a part of developmental progression. Its something you need to be taught by a trusted adult. I can remember in 2nd or 3rd grade, having a discussion with my father and insisting that something I said was true because I saw it on T.V., and him telling me not only about commercials, but about what his father had said about the accuracy of the news released during World War I. My point being, this has been an issue since before internet search was widely available. To be good citizens, we need to be able to research across multiple sources, judge their credibility, and not let anyone, as promised by a T.V./radio personality "do your thinking for you".
ReplyDeleteI see teachers providing instruction on which sites can not be considered credible, but sometimes I think we overlook this overlying concept.
Teaching website evaluation is not a concept had I previously given much thought to, but a skill I think is vital for today's students. Accessing information in journals and encyclopedias is an outdated skill, as students and teachers rely primarily on the internet. Since there is so much false information on the world wide web, everyone needs to know how to locate accurate and truthful websites. I do think learning to critically analyze websites will help students use this skill in other areas of their studies.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hugely important skill today, and one that many students lack. Being able to accurately evaluate a webpage is only going to get more important. There are now over a billion (and counting) websites on the internet. When students research a topic they can find alternative facts and differing opinions on just about every topic. It is important for them in school and in life to be able to discern what is true and what is not
ReplyDeleteI think that we all, kids and adults included, need to find ways of evaluating the information we are given, especially with concepts such as "fake news" and "alternative facts" floating around. The internet is increasingly the source we go to because it provides immediate access, can be tailored through a search engine to find the exact topic we are interested in, and can bring up thousands of hits in microseconds. I think, at first, people assume that everything they are reading is true. Most of us, after all, are honest people who would never distort facts and would take pride in the accuracy of our statements, but unfortunately, there are those who like to make up information. Perhaps they have an ax to grind; perhaps they got bored and needed something to do.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has introduced new challenges to our society. Since it is in its infancy, we have to find ways to protect ourselves. We are learning on the fly and the learning curve is steep. From texting as we drive, to cyber bullying, to evaluating sources of data on the internet, we are having to make new rules and develop new skills as we go along. Not all is bad. For those who have the skill, teachers can cut and past a student's writing passage into Google and check for plagiarism.
Having a process to evaluate websites will be critical to our society. Several times, I have written about the need to use data in making informed decisions. Our decisions and the decisions of our students will only be informed if the data we are analyzing is correct and true. There are those, who for whatever reason, aren't interested in what is true. They are interested in what they want to be true. This smacks of anti intellectualism and is basically a form of laziness and, perhaps, dishonesty.
Teaching students to evaluate websites is an important skill in the technological age that we are living in. Most students look to the internet and google to find all of the information for their research projects. While there is great information out there...there is also information that is incorrect or wrong. When we teach students to evaluate the websites they encounter, it would allow them to find the real, valid information.
ReplyDeleteThis skill would enable a student's ability to critically analyze information. They would be able to transfer that knowledge into other areas of their lives. I think that this can come easy for some students...and for others, it can be very difficult. Most of the students on my caseload, for example, would find this skills very difficult. For some, it might be next to impossible. It becomes part of my job to help them understand the importance and lead them through the process.
Teaching website evaluation is imperative in today's world. As we live in a blogger world, personal opinions and facts seem to become one and the same. Our students need to understand that, as Adele states, "Just 'cause I said it doesn't mean that I meant it, just 'cause you heard it."
ReplyDeletePart of the struggle with finding good websites is that so many poor websites are willing to provide "information" about what we are looking for. Not to mention that oftentimes, we don't research topics as much as we try to find someone "credible" that is saying the same thing I am thinking. I have found that students often don't search for things on-line for knowledge acquisition as much as personal reenforcement. It is important that teachers review/teach the importance of true learning and what makes a source credible.
As students learn the basics in identifying credible sources, they will learn the valuable skill of discerning truth from untruth and more importantly, truth from semi-truth. They will learn to filter information through the grid of their current knowledge and apply learned tests to every source, whether it be friend, teacher, newspaper, magazine, Facebook, textbook, professor, etc. This is truly a lifelong skill.
What is the value of teaching website evaluation? It helps understand what information is valid and reliable and what is not. When I was in college we always had to check our sources and try to use peer reviewed journals when writing research papers. Many different sources on the internet are not reliable sources anymore. It is important to check if the source is providing correct information or not.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it have to do with a student’s ability to critically analyze information? Teaching website evaluation is a way for students to analyze whether or not information is reliable or not. It is important for student to understand that not everything they read is true.